


Creatures You Despise

by roxyeisen



Series: What Happens Next [2]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Continuation of finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 06:06:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14129694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxyeisen/pseuds/roxyeisen
Summary: William is still out in the woods. But after a little mind-reading, he may be ready to talk to Scully.





	Creatures You Despise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William's mind reading helps him (and us) understand Mulder and Scully. But he's pretty sure this arrangement isn't going to work.

My parents didn’t like my music choices. They were always trying to get me to listen to something that sounded nice. We usually compromised with classical.

“At least play something where you can hear the lyrics, Jackson,” my mom would complain. “It’s just noise. Why do you like to hear people screaming?”

One of the many ways I knew I was different. As a result of these power struggles, my favorite genre is classical metal. The more intricate and complicated the lyrics and the elements of the music, the more likely I was to play it over and over, trying to dissect it and understand each aspect separately. Trying to pull back and look at the big picture. There was one song I played more than the rest, because I identified with the words so much. My dad said the group was appropriately named “Garbage.”

_We are not your kind of people. Speak a different language. We see through your lies. We are not your kind of people. Won't be cast as demons Creatures you despise._

I know my parents loved me. And because of them, there was a good side that balanced my darkness. But now, being out here, on my own, not sure what to do with my life, I’m pretty sure I am that despised creature after all.

Mulder’s been out to see me every day. He brings me food and water, makes sure I’m warm enough. It’s too bad he isn’t my dad, because he’d be a good dad. I think he gets me either way. I think he knows what it’s like to be an alien, not fitting in anywhere. I decide the fourth night he comes out that I’m ready to ask him about it.

“You know what it’s like to be different, don’t you?” I ask. He looks at me with that typical parental perk-up, like he can’t believe I asked such a good question. But he doesn’t overdo his answer.

“Yeah. I do.”

“Do you have superpowers too?”

He smiles. “No. Not as a general rule. I did once.”

I look up at that. “When?”

“Same year you were conceived.” He smiles knowingly, like he’s proving a point I didn’t know he was trying to make. I throw a few leaves on the fire and consider his words.

“What powers?”

He sighs, like he’s thinking back and remembering. “I’m not really sure. It started when I was exposed to an alien artifact. Gave me headaches. Telepathy. Made my brain so active I went into a coma. I got better, but I was slowly dying because my brain couldn’t handle the stress. I would have died if I hadn’t been abducted.”

I have a million questions about this, but I don’t know where to start. He glances at me with interest. “Your mom said you had a strange reaction to the artifact as well. It was drawn to you as a baby. You almost seemed to be controlling it with your mind.”

“I’d say that was weird, but I guess you know well enough that it’s not that weird for me.”

He nods. We sit in quiet for a few more minutes. I try not to read his thoughts, but I can tell he’s trying to think of a way to get me to go talk to my mother. I need to distract him from that agenda.

“Do you have any sort of plan, William?” He finally asks. “You should be in school. You’ve only got a year left, right?”

I shrug. “I guess I’m going to lose all my credits for this year, though.”

I don’t want to think about it. I put my hands over my face and sigh loudly.

“I could call the school district and get you enrolled,” he suggests, more lightly than he feels. 

I shake my head. “I can’t. I can’t be around people. You saw what I did. In that motel room. What if that happened accidentally in a room full of students?”

“Then how about I order some textbooks? You make a list of what you were taking and I’ll teach you. I don’t have a job right now, so I have plenty of free time.”

“You mean like homeschooling?” I scoff, but secretly, I’m touched that he would go to all that trouble to help me. 

"You know, I went to Oxford. I think I can probably manage high school physics," he says with a deadpan expression.

I shrug. “I guess that could work.”

“Is this a more recent development? These extreme powers of yours?” he asks. He’s curious. I’ve never met a more curious mind. He wants to know all the secrets of the universe. It frustrates him to no end not to understand something complex. He has to solve the puzzle.

Sounds familiar. 

“Yeah. I’ve always had powers … but I never killed anyone before. I didn’t mean to kill them. I was just trying to knock them out so we could get away. But they just exploded. Everywhere. So much blood and guts …” I feel sick. What is wrong with me? I’m a freak.

“It’s not your fault, William. It’s not your fault. I don’t want you to carry that.” He reaches across and puts his hand on my arm. “Maybe it was because you were scared. Your emotions amplified the effect or something. I think you could learn to control it. It would just take practice.”

“I can’t practice! More people will just die!” I shrink back from him. 

He isn’t afraid. He comes after me. Keeps his hold on my arm. “if you learn to focus your powers, you could use them for good.”

“You sound like some superhero’s wise old dad,” I said, laughing without humor. “I’m no superhero.”

“You may not have been created to be a superhero,” Mulder says. “But you’re Dana Scully’s son. I’d say that qualifies you as superhero material.”

I ponder that for a moment. He sure seems to think a lot of her. “Why aren’t you two married? You think of each other the same way married couples do. Actually, you think quite a bit more of each other than most married couples do.”

He is a bit taken aback by this revelation. He leans back and watches the fire with a small smile. “Do we? Huh.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

He sighs, like the answer would be a really long explanation that he’s not sure he wants to get into. “It’s complicated. At least it was, once upon a time.”

I read his mind, searching for the things he isn’t saying. I’m surprised by what I find. “You were partners for seven years before you did it?”

He gives me an unappreciative look. “Hey. Stay out of my brain.”

“Seven years? Were you like a monk or something?”

He shrugs. “I have no defense. I was young and weird. And I didn’t want to lose her.”

I explore this in a little more detail, now that his mind is swimming with thoughts about her. “You didn’t trust her at first, but by your second case together, you already knew you loved her.”

He chuckles uncomfortably. “William, I think your first lesson in power control is that you shouldn’t read people’s minds.”

I stand up. I’m curious now. I pace around the fire. “If you loved her from the beginning, why’d you wait seven years? Did she not feel the same?”

He won’t answer me. He just smirks and stares at the fire.

“Okay, now I gotta know the whole story. And I’m not going to get it from your brain because you didn’t have a clue what was going on until that night in your apartment.”

“What night?” He tries to act like I have no idea what I’m talking about. “You’re just making this up.”

“She was wearing a green shirt.” I know I’ve got him now. He squirms. “And it was her idea.”

He shakes his head. He can’t believe he’s having this conversation with me. “You’ve got a lot of nerve, kid.”

“That’s it,” I say. “I have to know how this all happened. I guess I’ll go talk to her.”

He’s surprised, but he tries to be cool about it. “You want to talk to your mom?”

“Did you tell her I was out here?”

He shakes his head as he stands up. “No. But I told her I’d been in contact with you and you were okay. She really wants to see you.”

I take a deep breath and blow it out. “You’ll help me stay in control? I don’t want to hurt her. Or your kid.”

He nods. “I’ll help you.”

“Let’s do it.”


End file.
